A grand jury indicted former Contra Costa County sex crimes prosecutor Michael Gressett on Monday in connection with charges that he raped a colleague, Gressett's attorneys said.

The indictment, handed down in Martinez, sends the case to a jury trial. Gressett, 52, who has been free on bail, was ordered to appear in court for arraignment Nov. 2, said his attorney, Dan Russo.

State prosecutors, who are handling the case, did not return calls seeking comment. Russo said he had been notified of the indictment by fax, but had not been told what specific charges Gressett is facing.

The accuser, who is in her early 30s and is now a prosecutor in another county, told police she wanted to sleep with Gressett but objected to the type of sex he initiated on May 8, 2008, at his Martinez townhouse. She said he had forcibly sodomized her, held a gun to her head, handcuffed her and forced ice into her.

Gressett, who was fired in July, said a gun, cuffs and ice had been brought out but only in a playful way. His attorneys said the alleged victim had a troubled history and that the case against Gressett - who lost three bids to be elected district attorney - had been unduly influenced by political opponents in his own office.

The Chronicle is not naming Gressett's accuser because she is allegedly a rape victim.

Defense attorneys were angered by the prosecution's decision to seek a grand jury indictment. They had won a key ruling when a judge said they could question Gressett's accuser during a public preliminary hearing - a hearing that was superseded by the use of a grand jury.

Prosecutors have said in the past that they wanted to protect the accuser from further trauma.

"Obviously, the grand jury was misled," Russo said Monday. Prosecutors "were afraid to do a preliminary hearing because then they would have to expose the wretchedness of their case to daylight."